The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to mark Chris Buescher’s 10th as a full-time competitor in the series and sixth in a row driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing. As Buescher strives to rebound from missing the Playoffs this past season, he will enter this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 with a milestone start of his own. By competing in this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, Buescher will make his 10th career start in the Great American Race.
A native of Prosper, Texas, Buescher made his first Daytona 500 career start in 2016, the same year in which he campaigned in the Cup Series division as a full-time competitor for the first time. By then, he was driving the No. 34 Ford entry for Front Row Motorsports and was coming off an Xfinity Series championship with Roush Fenway Racing. Starting in 17th place, Buescher finished 39th in the 40-car field after he was eliminated in a two-car accident with Matt DiBenedetto between the first two turns on the 92nd lap.
Over the following three Cup seasons, Buescher drove the No. 37 Chevrolet entry for JTG-Daugherty Racing. Within the three-year stretch, the Texan notched his first top-five career result in the Daytona 500, which occurred in 2018 as he finished in fifth place. During the 2017 and 2019 seasons, however, he finished 35th and 37th, respectively, after being involved in multi-car wrecks.
Beginning in 2020, Buescher reunited with Roush Fenway Racing to pilot the No. 17 Ford entry on a full-time basis in the Cup division. In his first Daytona 500 start as a Roush competitor, he notched a career-best third-place result after he dodged a final-lap harrowing accident that involved his teammate Ryan Newman. After finishing 31st during the 2021 Daytona 500, Buescher achieved his highest-starting spot for the Great American Race in 2022 after he won the second of two Daytona Duel events. By then, Roush Fenway Racing had been rebranded to RFK Racing as Brad Keselowski joined the organization both as a co-owner and as Buescher’s teammate. Despite proceeding to finishing 16th after he was involved in a late incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Buescher rallied during the 2023 Daytona 500 event by finishing fourth as he dodged a nine-car wreck on the final lap. Since then, he is coming off an 18th-place run during this past season’s Great American Race.
Through nine previous starts in the Daytona 500, Buescher has achieved three top-five results, 32 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.9 as he attempts to become the 44th competitor to win the Great American Race in 2025. A 500 victory by Buescher this season would also mark the third overall for RFK Racing, the 18th for the Ford nameplate and the first for RFK’s No. 17 Ford team since Matt Kenseth made the previous accomplishment in 2012. In addition, Buescher would become the first Texas native to win the Daytona 500 since A.J. Foyt made the last accomplishment in 1972.
This week, Buescher, who finished in 17th place in the 2024 driver’s standings, will participate in a single-car qualifying session on Wednesday, February 12, and in one of two Duel events on Thursday, February 13, to determine his starting lineup for this year’s Daytona 500. The qualifying session on Wednesday will begin airing at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Duels will begin airing at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.
The 2025 Daytona 500 is scheduled to occur this upcoming Sunday, February 16, with a starting broadcast time of 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
